Boxing: Danyal Mahmood wins England Junior Development Championships

David Hodkinson, Danyal Mahmood and John Finnerty

Danyal Mahmood, 16, of Queensway ABC, has been crowned the number one in the country after winning the England Junior Development Championships. A massive achievement for a young man who has been boxing for less than two years and has an unbeaten record.

On the way to the final, Mahmood didn't drop a single round dominating from start to finish and in the final he beat Louis Small, from Fareham ABC, who had only lost one coming into the final.

Changing stances as often as possible he frustrated his opponent with his fantastic footwork.

His win was made even more special due to the fact he had picked up a serous hand injury four weeks prior to the competition starting, meaning his preparation was vital - switch hitting was the plan stuck to in order to get through the bouts.

Coach David Hodkinson and John Finnerty said: “This is a great way to end the year.

“We have had a very successful 2016 and are really looking forward to what 2017 brings.

“The squad we have is very strong with another two of our fighters being England boxing representatives.

“To say we have only been running for three years now shows all the time we put into boxing education is starting to pay off.”